Bonaventure

Quaestio II. Quo ordine ex parte temporis Deus produxerit res sensibiles.

Secundo quaeritur de ordine productionis sensibilium, quantum est ex parte temporis. Et dicit Scriptura¹, quod volatilia et natatilia facta sunt in uno die, scilicet quinto; gressibilia vero cum homine facta sunt die altero, scilicet sexto.

Contra istum ordinem primo obiicitur ex parte ipsorum animalium sensibilium in se; secundo vero, in comparatione ad hominem.

Ad oppositum series 1. argumentor.

1. Contra primum obiicitur sic. Uno die² fuerunt omnia elementa distincta, non solum aër et ignis, sed etiam aqua et terra: ergo pari ratione a summo Opifice debent fuisse ornata: ergo in uno die debuit fieri ornatus aëris et aquae et terrae.

2. Item, distinctio dierum fit penes diversitatem operum³: ergo si tria sunt elementa, quae ornantur ex animalibus, et tria sunt genera animalium, scilicet volatilia, natatilia et gressibilia, videtur, quod produci debuerunt saltem in tribus diebus.

3. Item, terra prior omnibus producta est: ergo prior omnibus debet esse ornata: ergo animalia, quae terram ornant, prius produci debuerunt, quam illa quae ornant aquam vel aërem.

4. Item, cum producuntur animalia ornantia elementa, aut producuntur secundum ordinem dignitatis, ut incipiatur a supremo; aut secundum ordinem ascensionis, ut incipiatur ab infimo. Si primo modo: ergo deberet prius fieri ornatus ignis quam aëris. Si secundo modo: ergo prius deberet fieri ornatus terrae quam aquae; quorum utrumque repugnat Scripturae sacrae⁴ et ordinationi productionis, prius determinatae quantum ad productionem ipsorum animalium.

Series 2.

Item, obiicitur contra ordinem productionis animalium in comparatione ad hominem.

5. Homo enim plus convenit cum Angelis quam cum bestiis⁵: ergo magis debuit produci eodem die cum Angelis quam eodem die cum bestiis: ergo productio hominis et bestiarum non recte facta est in eodem die.

6. Item, plus convenit irrationale cum irrationali quam cum homine sive rationali: ergo magis competens fuit in eodem die producere omnia animalia irrationalia, quam simul producere hominem et bruta.

7. Item, principalius opus diei debet primo fieri; sed homo principalius opus fuit sextae diei: ergo debuit ante fieri, quam fierent sensibilia sive bruta; quod est contra ordinem sacrae Scripturae⁶.

8. Item, posterius magis indiget priori quam e converso⁷; sed bruta animalia magis indigebant homine, quam homo indigeret eis secundum illum statum: ergo ante debebat homo produci, quam illa in esse prodirent.

Conclusio.

In productione rerum sensibilium servatus est ordo convenientissimus secundum duplicem distinctionem ordinis.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod in productione sensibilium duplex attenditur ordo, unus scilicet secundum distinctionem diei a die, alius scilicet secundum ordinem eorum quae eodem die producta sunt. — Primus autem ordo attenditur secundum exigentiam finis et materiae. Et quia volatilia et natatilia ex aquis producta sunt, prout aqua communiter accipitur ad humorem et vaporem⁸, et sunt

ad ornatum naturae perspicuae; ideo sacra Scriptura dicit, ea facta esse uno die. Quia vero gressibilia non solum rationalia, sed etiam irrationalia ad ornamentum terrae spectant et ex eadem materia sunt producta, scilicet terra; ideo non in eodem die, sed alio a praedictis facta sunt, ita quod, sicut uno die ornata est natura caelestis, scilicet quarto, sic uno die ornetur natura elementaris perspicua, scilicet quinto, et alio terra, scilicet sexto. Et sicut natura caelestis praecedit elementarem perspicuam, et perspicua opacam; sic harum naturarum ornamenta sunt ordine temporis correspondente producta.

Secundus ordo. Secundus autem ordo, qui est inter ea quae producta sunt eodem die, attenditur secundum praecellentiam perfectionis naturae; prius enim producitur quod imperfectum est, et deinde quod perfectum, quia is est ordo, ut a minus completo perveniatur ad magis completum⁹. Et ideo Scriptura prius dicit esse producta natatilia die quinto, quae sunt minus perfecta quam volatilia; et similiter in sexto die prius dicit esse producta irrationalia quam hominem.

Rationes 3, quare homo post omnia producitur. Quamvis multiplex assignari possit ratio, quare homo post creaturas ceteras est productus; occurrit autem triplex ratio ad praesens, quare post omnia productus est homo; scilicet propter partium corporis multitudinem, propter animae et corporis distantiam, et propter totius coniuncti perfectionem. Propter partium corporis multitudinem debuit homo ultimo produci. Cum enim corpus eius sit completissimum inter cetera corpora, et quanto aliquid compositius¹⁰, tanto posterius, post omnia producendus erat. — Propter animae et corporis distantiam debuit fieri post cetera. Quia enim distat anima a corpore, et non solum sicut forma a materia, sed etiam sicut spirituale a corporali et «sicut perpetuum a corruptibili¹¹»; ideo magna distantia temporis debuit intervenire inter productionem hominis quantum ad materiale principium et coniunctionem suarum partium, ut per distantiam temporis intelligeretur distantia principiorum constituentium. — Propter totius compositi perfectionem post cetera debuit homo produci. Quia enim homo sua dignitate et complemento finis est omnium corporalium; ideo post omnia erat producendus, ut sua productione finiret et compleret omnia praecedentia, tanquam finis complet quod ad ipsum ordinari habet. — Conclusio generalis. Et sic patet, quod divina sapientia in productione sensibilium conservavit ordinem convenientissimum.

Solutio oppositorum.

1. Ad illud ergo quod primo obiicitur, quod elementa simul sunt distincta; dicendum, quod non est simile: quia distinctio non est in uno elemento nisi respectu alterius, ideo non potest distingui unum elementum ab alio, quin alterum distinguatur ab eo; non sic autem est in ornatu, ornatus enim unius elementi non necessario respicit alterum.

2. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod tria sunt elementa, quae ornantur: ergo etc.; dicendum, quod etsi tria sint, ornatus tamen duorum, scilicet aëris et aquae, non respicit illa, ut duo sunt, sed ut in uno communicant, scilicet in natura aquea, sicut determinatum est supra¹²; et ideo duorum ornatus ad eandem diem spectat, et productio animalium, quae illa duo elementa ornant, in uno die est facta.

3. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod terra prior est producta; dicendum, quod falsum est. Nam in principio Genesis terra non accipitur pro elemento, sed pro materia¹³.

4. Ad illud quod obiicitur de igne, quod quia est praecipuus inter elementa, prius deberet ornari; dicendum est, quod propter qualitatem activam non possunt in eo vivere animalia, et propter nimiam distantiam a nobis non essent usui hominis apta; et ideo non determinatur eius ornatus, nec post nec antea. Terrae vero ornatus ordinatur postremo, pro eo quod ipsa est infima et obscura, et ideo maiori indiget ornamento; et propter hoc ornatur plantis et animalibus et mineralibus, et in eius ornatu consistit totius ornatus complementum quantum ad hominem, qui est praecipuus inter alia animalia.

5. 6. Ad illud vero quod obiicitur, quod homo debuit produci cum Angelis, cum quibus magis communicat; dicendum, quod etsi magis communicat, quantum est a parte animae, non tamen quantum est a parte corporis. — Similiter ad sequens dicendum est, quod quamvis gressibilia et volatilia magis communicent in formali perfectione, non tamen tantum communicant quantum ad elementum, ex quo principaliter constituuntur et quod ornant; quod quidem est elementum terrae.

7. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod principalius opus deberet esse prius; dicendum, quod falsum est, quia in eis quae producuntur, prius est minus

perfectum quam magis perfectum secundum ordinem generationis, quamvis magis perfectum sit prius secundum ordinem dignitatis.

8. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod posterius indiget priori; dicendum, quod verum est, quando aliqua ordinantur ita, quod inter ea cadit ordo essentialis: quando vero est ordo solius congruentiae, sicut in proposito, non est necesse, quod habeat veritatem.

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Question II. In what order, on the side of time, God produced the sensible things.

Secondly it is asked concerning the order of the production of sensible things, so far as it is on the side of time. And Scripture says¹ that the flying and swimming animals were made in one day, namely the fifth; whereas the walking animals together with man were made on another day, namely the sixth.

Against this order there are first objections on the side of the sensible animals themselves in themselves; and secondly, in comparison to man.

To the opposite, series 1. — I argue:

1. Against the first point it is objected thus. In one day² all the elements were distinguished — not only air and fire, but also water and earth: therefore by parity of reason they ought to have been adorned by the supreme Maker: therefore in one day there ought to have been made the adornment of air and water and earth.

2. Likewise, the distinction of days is made according to the diversity of works³: therefore if there are three elements which are adorned by animals, and three genera of animals — namely flying, swimming, and walking — it seems that they ought to have been produced at least over three days.

3. Likewise, earth was produced before all things: therefore it ought to be adorned before all things: therefore the animals which adorn the earth ought to have been produced before those which adorn the water or the air.

4. Likewise, when the animals adorning the elements are produced, they are either produced according to the order of dignity, beginning from the highest, or according to the order of ascent, beginning from the lowest. If in the first way: then the adornment of fire ought to be made before that of air. If in the second way: then the adornment of earth ought to be made before that of water — both of which are contrary to sacred Scripture⁴ and to the order of the production already determined as regards the production of the animals themselves.

Series 2.

Likewise, it is objected against the order of the production of animals in comparison to man.

5. For man has more in common with the Angels than with the beasts⁵: therefore he ought to have been produced rather on the same day with the Angels than on the same day with the beasts: therefore the production of man and the beasts has not been rightly done on the same day.

6. Likewise, the irrational has more in common with the irrational than with man or the rational: therefore it would have been more fitting on the same day to produce all the irrational animals, than to produce together man and the brutes.

7. Likewise, the more principal work of a day ought to be done first; but man was the more principal work of the sixth day: therefore he ought to have been made before the sensible things or brutes were made; which is against the order of sacred Scripture⁶.

8. Likewise, the posterior is more in need of the prior than conversely⁷; but the brute animals had more need of man than man had need of them in that state: therefore man ought to have been produced before they came into being.

Conclusion.

In the production of sensible things a most fitting order was preserved, according to a twofold distinction of order.

I respond: It must be said that in the production of sensible things a twofold order is regarded: one according to the distinction of day from day, the other according to the order of those things which were produced on the same day. — The first order is regarded according to the requirement of end and matter. And because the flying and swimming animals were produced from the waters — taking "water" generally for moisture and vapor⁸ — and they belong to the adornment of the transparent nature; therefore sacred Scripture says they were made in one day. But because the walking animals — not only the rational, but also the irrational — pertain to the adornment of the earth, and were produced from the same matter, namely earth; therefore they were made not on the same day, but on another day from the foregoing, in such a way that, just as in one day was adorned the celestial nature, namely the fourth, so in one day be adorned the transparent elemental nature, namely the fifth, and in another the earth, namely the sixth. And just as the celestial nature precedes the transparent elemental, and the transparent precedes the opaque, so the adornments of these natures were produced in a correspondingly ordered sequence of time.

Second order. The second order, which is among those things which were produced on the same day, is regarded according to the excellence of perfection of nature; for that which is imperfect is produced first, and then that which is perfect, since this is the order, that one passes from the less complete to the more complete⁹. And therefore Scripture says that the swimming animals were produced first on the fifth day, since they are less perfect than the flying; and similarly on the sixth day it says that the irrational animals were produced before man.

Three reasons why man is produced after all things. Although many reasons could be assigned why man was produced after the rest of the creatures, three reasons occur for the present why man was produced after all things — namely on account of the multitude of the parts of his body, on account of the distance of the soul and the body, and on account of the perfection of the whole composite. On account of the multitude of the parts of the body, man had to be produced last. For since his body is the most complete among other bodies, and the more composite a thing is¹⁰, the later it is — so after all things he had to be produced. — On account of the distance of soul and body he had to be made after the rest. For because the soul is distant from the body — not only as form from matter, but also as spiritual from corporeal and «as the perpetual from the corruptible¹¹» — therefore a great distance of time had to intervene before the production of man as regards the material principle and the conjunction of his parts, so that through the distance of time the distance of the constituting principles might be understood. — On account of the perfection of the whole composite, man had to be produced after the rest. For because man, by his dignity and as the completion of the end, is of all corporeal things; therefore he was to be produced after all things, so that by his production he might finish and complete all preceding things, just as the end completes what is ordered to it. — General conclusion. And thus it is plain that the divine wisdom preserved a most fitting order in the production of sensible things.

Solution of the opposing arguments.

1. To that which is first objected — that the elements were distinguished simultaneously — it must be said that the case is not similar: because distinction in one element is only with respect to another, therefore one element cannot be distinguished from another without the other being distinguished from it; but it is not so in adornment, for the adornment of one element does not necessarily regard another.

2. To that which is objected — that there are three elements which are adorned, therefore etc. — it must be said that even if there are three, nevertheless the adornment of two, namely air and water, does not regard them as they are two, but as they communicate in one, namely in the aqueous nature, as was determined above¹²; and therefore the adornment of two pertains to the same day, and the production of animals which adorn those two elements was done in one day.

3. To that which is objected — that earth was produced first — it must be said that this is false. For in the beginning of Genesis earth is not taken for element, but for matter¹³.

4. To that which is objected concerning fire — that because it is most excellent among the elements, it ought to be adorned first — it must be said that on account of its active quality animals cannot live in it, and on account of its excessive distance from us they would not be apt for the use of man; and therefore its adornment is not determined, neither after nor before. But the adornment of earth is ordered last, in that it is itself the lowest and most obscure, and therefore needs the greatest adornment; and on this account it is adorned with plants and animals and minerals, and in its adornment consists the completion of the whole adornment with respect to man, who is the most excellent among the other animals.

5. 6. To that which is objected — that man ought to have been produced with the Angels, with whom he has more in common — it must be said that although he has more in common, so far as it is on the side of the soul, nevertheless not so much so far as it is on the side of the body. — Similarly to the next [argument] it must be said that, although the walking and flying animals have more in common in formal perfection, nevertheless they do not have so much in common as regards the element from which they are principally constituted and which they adorn; which indeed is the element of earth.

7. To that which is objected — that the more principal work ought to be first — it must be said that this is false, because in things which are produced, the less perfect is before the more perfect according to the order of generation, although the more perfect is prior according to the order of dignity.

8. To that which is objected — that the posterior is in need of the prior — it must be said that this is true when some things are so ordered that an essential order falls between them: but when there is an order of mere congruence, as in the matter at hand, it is not necessary that it hold true.

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